Bewitching Rhaego (Clecanian, #8)

by Victoria Aveline

Aurora’s lungs seared as she sucked down gulps of chilled air and sprinted past gnarled tree trunks.

The blood in her veins turned to ice. It was the man she’d been worried about. Before this horrifying ritual had begun, this man had stared at her in a way that had made her whole body ring with alarm. He’d looked large before when they’d locked eyes from a distance, but now…he was massive.

The expression in his blood-red eyes could only be described as hungry.

A desperate whimper escaped her throat as the cord went taut again. The demon’s black brows wrinkled. She had no time to examine what the look meant before another man, a paler shade of red than the first, barreled into the clearing with a roar.

“An offering for you.” Before her vision went completely black, she heard him say in a deep rumbling voice, “My little wife.”

Rhaego didn’t take part in the chase often anymore, but when he did, it was known among all that he would catch whoever he chose and woe to anyone who tracked his quarry.

Is she afraid…of me?

But I would cherish you, little doe.

There was no blade on Clecania that could slice him as deeply as that tear.

He desperately wanted to get her alone to assure her she was safe and explain why he’d really entered the bride chase, but would that do any good? I came to rescue Diana and right a terrible wrong, but my cock decided it wanted you instead. He’d be lucky if she only thought him incompetent.

“I crave your natural smile. Your teeth are far too pretty to ever offend me.”

Rhaego wanted her to want his touch, not bitterly accept it because she thought she had no choice.

He was showing her where her room was. That was all. This wasn’t a date. He was here for a job, and by his own account, he’d freed plenty of women before. She wasn’t special. She was just another mission.

Clutching the flower to her chest, she beamed up at Rhaego. His purr rumbled out of him for a moment before he muffled it and blushed.

“You’re so tall.” Her soft fingers squeezed. “Do you think you could kneel without it flying away?” She spoke almost too quietly for even him to hear.

For her, he’d do anything, but Rhaego didn’t dare nod or reply, just gently and steadily stretched one foot behind him, lowering. His thigh burned as he held taut every muscle in his body to keep his movements controlled. Though he kept his eyes closed, he listened for any sound of dismay and wanted to don applause bells when his knee finally met grass and she inhaled a gasp of awe.

“You will let me tend to you, female.”

“You’ve done a poor job caring for yourself, so now I will see to it. And you…Will. Not. Argue,”

All he wanted was to trouble himself for her. To demonstrate the lengths at which he yearned to trouble himself for her. To prove he could make her happy in all ways and instill in her a sense that he was essential to her life and her happiness. Indispensable.

there was something insidious about insecurity sown during youth. The roots were deep. They burrowed into young spongy bone and grew alongside their host, hardening and aging until there was no distinguishing between what was natural and what was planted.

Her scent was intoxicating on its own, but every time his glands activated and he smelled her, the scent suddenly morphed into something…unfinished. Like a perfectly crafted dessert left uneaten or a flower un-smelled. Her scent was a thing of perfection and yet lacking. And what it was missing…was him.

He wasn’t worthy of her yet—he knew that. But he’d do whatever it took to earn her.

“He’s coming with us?” she whispered.

“Uh, yes. He’ll accompany us all day. If I do any shopping, he’ll be the one to carry it and transport it back to the den.”

“Ah.” Aurora nodded, then raised a conspiratorial brow. “I’ll make sure to pick out something very heavy, then.”

“What a clever wife I’ve caught.”

“They all think I’m here because you did something wrong?”

Rhaego didn’t answer, but the stiffness in his expression told her she was right.

“Why did you offer to bring me if you knew this would happen?”

“Because I knew it’d bring you joy.”

My opinion might not be worth much in this city, but I think you were blessed with a heart meant for love.”

“The Goddess was unreasonably generous when she formed you.” Aurora’s skin warmed, her body swaying closer to his. He met her eyes. “It would be blasphemous to hide the fruits of her labor.”

Aurora worked to nourish, not impress. And Rhaego watched, purr held in his throat, as his little doe transformed the kitchen into a heart. A space that thrummed with energy. Pulsed with life.

“You’re too tempting, witch. You’ve awakened my cock’s gland.”

“How do you like to be touched, little doe?”

“You really are a perfect creature, aren’t you?”

“How does a witch look when she comes?” he grated, angling her face toward his with the grip at her nape. “Show me, little doe.”

“I fear I’ll fail.” The doubt inside him welled again. He swallowed past a knot in his throat. “I fear I won’t earn you.”

“Why would you say that?” she whispered.

“I wasn’t supposed to catch you, little doe. It was Diana I was meant to chase. But…”

“I have a greedy soul,” he whispered. “A ...

“Do you have a fever too, little doe?”

“Only when it comes to you.”

“You’ve already earned me, Rhaego,” she whispered, making him shiver though he rejected her words. “I’m already yours.”

“You make me okay when I am not okay, little doe.”

“I’ve caught you, little mate.”

“Be still, little doe. Breathe,” he growled against her ear, sending a shiver through her. “You’re mine tonight. You were made to take my cock.”

“Stretch for me like a good little mate,” he rasped through clenched teeth. His mouth pressed against her ear, his lips pulled back and fangs bared. “I’m going to make your cunt into a mold. Every vein of my cock will be imprinted inside you.”

“The heat has only begun.” The crimson fever in his eyes pulsed brighter. “Beg the Goddess for strength, little doe.”

“I want you just as you are. Stop hiding from me.